I'm not really buying the comparison, and I think he's off on some of the characterizations. For example, I would never say Mal was someone who "holds little regard for human lives, even those closest to him." Mal fights like hell to keep him and his alive, even while realizing that there are things worse than death.

Nah, not convinced. After Serenity Valley about the only thing Mal does care about are the lives of those around him - that's partly why he's so careful about who he allows there, he knows he has to be willing to go all the way for them when the chips are down.

Mal's "sphere" didn't seem all that "happy" either by the time we find him in 'Serenity' ;).

And I never really saw The Operative as "bad" either. He always genuinely acted towards a "better world" as he saw it IMO, it was just his means/ends, "anything goes for the greater good" moral pragmatism that led to him committing atrocities. And does "wants for details" mean, he desires detail or does the author mean "wont" rather than "want" ? Because The Operative's appearance lacks detail for the same reason a monk's does I reckon. It's spartan, not "immaculate" in the sense of vanity. He was basically a Samurai, existing only to serve his master/cause (that damned "greater good" again, as represented by The Alliance and their approach to social engineering).

When he was finally shown the error of his ways he gave the order to stand down, rather than just kill Mal and the crew out of spite as a genuinely evil man might have.

The person who believes, like the Operative, is capable of terrible things. A leader is, by nature, something of a monster. - Inara

…which isn’t in the movie. The closest quote I can find is Inara saying, “We have every reason to be afraid [of the operative] because he’s a believer. He’s intelligent, methodical, and devout in his belief that killing River is the right thing to do.”
This bloke’s making up his quotes to suit his argument. Bah.

I'm hoping the prof. is a Browncoat. Bad grammar I can live with. (My grammar sucks.) But misquotes? No.

Ok.. so he is saying that Serenity is like the story of Gilgamesh because Mal and the Operative have a few traits in common like Gilgamesh did with Enkidu? Really?
And I don't remember Mal being to anal retentive about his appearance. Other than wearing what I would assume are clean cloths (until he gets into a fight and gets them dirty) he's not very meticulous. Could he be confusing Mal with Simon? *shrugs* Well, it was a nice try.